Sir Christopher Lee dies at 93
“To be a legend, you’ve either got to be dead or excessively old!”
It´s amazing how you can hear Christopher Lee´s distinct voice in your head just by reading this quote by him, you can even imagine him pointing his finger and smiling. It is with great sadness that we learnt of Sir Christopher Lee´s passing today – an actor who has equally mesmerized young and old cinema audiences for nearly 70 years. His incredible versatility and stately appearance shaped iconic characters like Dracula, Count Dooku in “Star Wars”, Saruman in “Lord of the Rings” and of course Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga in “The Man with the Golden Gun“. And then there was that deep, strong and melodious voice that Lee was able to command with masterful precision in several languages. Without equal in the history of cinema.
Born in London in 1922, Christopher Lee began to act during his school years. In the Second World War, he first volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces during the Winter War of 1939 and later joined the Royal Air Force. While stationed in Southern Rhodesia, a medical examination revealed a failure of his optic nerve which made him unfit for flying. Lee returned to London in 1946.
When Lee´s cousin Nicolò Carandini, the Italian Ambassador to Great Britain suggested a career in acting, he found the idea too interesting to resist. He gave his film début playing Charles in Terence Young’s Gothic romance “Corridor of Mirrors” (1947) alongside Lois Maxwell who would later come to play Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond film franchise. Between 1947 and 2015, Lee starred in over 200 films, 64 television productions and 17 video games. An achievement that will be almost impossible to top for any living actor or actress.
Christopher Lee in one of his signature roles as Count Dracula
Beside being a wonderful and gifted actor, Lee was enormously intelligent, gentlemanly charming and possessed an admirable passion for his work and the people around him. Ever so often, I hear people say that with an age of over 90 you have had a fulfilled life. In the case of Sir Christopher Lee, who leaves behind a truly impessive lifework, this is more than true.
While the film world mourns the loss of one of its greatest actors, we can be truly thankful for all the memories and moments that Sir Christopher Lee has created for us. His warm benevolence will be remembered, his talent will never be forgotten and his voice will never fade away.